What is AvantGo?
Technically speaking, AvantGo is a Palm device-based Web browser that supports channel-based offline reading and has Windows-based and Mac-based conduits for synchronizing. Whew, that's a mouthful!

Actually, it can be explained a little more simply than that. AvantGo combines a Palm application, Mac/PC HotSync conduits, and an Internet service. These all work together to update user-defined channels kept on your Palm device. AvantGo usually does this by retrieving information from the Web and importing it via a conduit to the AvantGo Palm Client.

It can also retrieve information from the Internet directly to a Palm device using a PalmModem or wireless connection and allow this information to be read offline. AvantGo can also be used as a Web browser with a PalmModem or wireless connection for real-time access to Internet Web pages. Finally, the very newest version of AvantGo handles wireless real-time access into AvantGo's predefined channels. I'll be covering this new wireless feature in next month's column.

AvantGo is displayed on my Palm IIIc in Figure A.

FIGURE A

AvantGo lists the specific channels to which I'm subscribed.

How do I get AvantGo for my Palm device?
AvantGo is available free of charge from http://www.avantgo.com. This Web site will inform you of all the requirements for running AvantGo, as well as guide you through the installation process on your Palm unit, PC, and/or Mac. It will also allow you to set up an account on AvantGo, which is required to use the program for anything more than a simple Palm Web browser.

How do I start using AvantGo?
Once the software is installed and your account is created, you can select one or more AvantGo channels on the AvantGo Web site. Channels are simply collections of Web pages that are optimized for AvantGo, and which can be viewed offline on your Palm device. They include topics such as sports, news, lifestyle, and technology.

Organizations and individuals that want to provide information to AvantGo users create these channels. They are special Web sites that use very limited graphics and are constructed using a simplified page structure. This allows AvantGo to pack the maximum amount of information into a minimum amount of memory on your Palm device. Each channel has a maximum memory size allocated to it, as well as an estimated actual size. This information can help keep you from running out of memory on your Palm unit if you get carried away and subscribe to too many channels. I suggest you start off slow in subscribing to channels and see how much of your Palm device's memory ends up being utilized by them.